Accustomed To Her Face
by Trish
Summary: A belated fic for Chuchino's sweet 16th! Pencilshippy Karlie & Tracey and anti Togepi. So if you don't like that then I suggest you stay away. This is written for Chuchi after all.


Accustomed To Her Face __

Accustomed To Her Face

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except this story.

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A/N: I know this is late for Karlie's (Chuchino) birthday. But I've already apologised to her - so that's okay. As such this will be a Pencilshippy and Anti-Egg. Just the way she likes it. Based partly on the song from "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" from the musical "My Fair Lady" as well as the musical itself. Ages - Karlie 18, Erin/Mia -17, Rachel - 16, Chris - 20, Jenn - 28, Me - 29. Ash/Misty/Gary - 18. If you don't like Tracey or you like the Egg, I suggest you stay away. This is for Karlie's birthday!

It was a beautiful Spring afternoon in the city of Pallet when the challenge was made. Assistant Professor Tracey Sketchitt leaned back on the couch as he listened to the lively debate going on between two of his closest friends, Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. Another good friend Brock was also taking interest in the argument, leaning forward in his chair and nodding or shaking his head from time to time. The four friends had gathered for coffee at Ash's place and the debate was over whether greatness was an inherent quality or was it something that one learned? Gary's argument was that one could only be born great. Greatness was passed down through the generations. After all, just look at his family. His grandfather Professor Samuel Oak was one of the world's leading authorities on Pokémon, and Gary had been the Viridian City Gym Leader for the past two years.

Ash, on the other hand, believed that greatness could be learnt. He cited examples of famous people throughout history who were told that they would never amount to anything when they were young. Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein were just a few of them. Fred Astaire was first told that he could dance a "little". Ash himself was a good example. After a very inauspicious start to his Pokémon journey, at sixteen he became the youngest person ever to win the title of Pokémon Grand Master. A title which he still held two years later.

"What do _you_ think, Trace?" Ash suddenly asked his Watcher friend.

Tracey pondered for a bit before answering. "I believe it can be learned. If you work at it intensely over a period of months - you can become great."

"So you're saying, that as long as they work hard at it - any 'Joe Blow' can become a great Pokémon Watcher for example," Gary stated.

"Yeah."

"I'd like to see you prove it." Gary leaned forward with a smirk. "I challenge you to take an ordinary person, and teach them to be a great Pokémon Watcher within six months. And they have to have developed a respect for all Pokémon."

"And to make it interesting, I'll choose the person," he continued with an evil grin. "How about that girl who always stalks you - Karlie?"

Tracey's eyes widened. "Karlie? She's not interested in watching Pokémon, she watches _me _instead!"

"So?"

"And…she has a huge thing against Togepis."

"Then this will certainly be a challenge for you," Gary grinned. "Do you accept?"

Tracey thought about it. He had always wanted to get the better of Gary at something, so…..He gulped once. "Alright - you're on."

******************

Two days later, Tracey was standing on the corner oppositethe local _Starmiebucks_ that he knew Karlie and her friends usually patronised. An internal argument was raging inside him, he wasn't exactly too thrilled at the idea of spending six months in close proximity with his obsessive fan, on the other hand he didn't want to lose a bet with the arrogant Gary Oak…..

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Better get a move on it, Sketchitt, his mind warned. _Otherwise you're gonna lose it._ He crossed the road to the popular coffee house and saw that the girls were in their usual place. All except one….

Erin looked up from her piece of Devil's Food Cake as he approached the table. "Hi, Tracey," she greeted the Watcher affably. "Karlie's not here at the moment."

Tracey looked a bit startled. "How did you know that I was looking for Karlie?"

Erin laughed and winked. "Just a hunch, besides the rest of us aren't exactly free agents." She waved her fork towards the front door of the establishment. "She overheard someone say they spotted a wild Togepi in the woods just outside town, so she decided she had to do something about it."

"I guess I'd better head out there then."

*******************

"Ouch." Karlie swore as she was poked by a sharp branch. Hunting around for the evil Egg as she called it, was no fun. But as Madam President of the International Togepi Elimination Organisation she was bound to set an example for all her thousands of members around the world. And that meant hunting Eggs wherever they were to be found.

Where was the damn critter? She was sure that she had seen it run into the bushes around here. She froze as she heard a soft trill of '_Priiiiis_' coming from her left, then she began to make her way silently towards the source of the sound.

Tracey arrived in the clearing in the woods just in time to see a small Togepi come barrelling out of the bushes followed by a brown-haired young woman wearing spectacles and brandishing a huge implement of sorts, hot on its heels. "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME!" she hollered as she pursued it into the next grove of trees.

A few minutes later Karlie reappeared, hair slightly dishevelled and her spectacles askew, with a satisfied smile on her face. The minute she saw Tracey there, her mouth formed into an "o" and she quickly straightened her spectacles and patted down her hair and smiled coquettishly. "Hi, Tracey."

"Er…Hi Karlie," the Pokémon Watcher replied. "Listen, I have a business proposition to make to you."

"You need someone to partner you on your expeditions? If so, you can count me in," she asked in a hopeful voice.

"No, it isn't that." Her face fell.

"But if you come to live with me for six months I will see to it that you will be the best Pokémon Watcher around."

Karlie's face lit up and she engulfed him in a hug. "Yes, I accept! I accept!" she chanted happily while bouncing up and down. 

"That's great," Tracey managed to gasp out while trying to release himself from her embrace. "Can you move in next Saturday?"

"Sure can!" She released him.

"Well, then that's settled," the Watcher stated and started to walk off. He paused. "Do you know where I live?"

The young woman just grinned. "Is that a stupid question to ask me or what?"

Tracey looked sheepish. "Uh…yeah. Dumb question." Of _course_ she'd know where he lived. This was his own personal stalker here…"See you next Saturday then."

***************

Karlie practically floated back to _Starmiebucks_ to find her friends in a intense discussion about Shakespeare. 

"Don't you think that _Romeo & Juliet _is one of the most _romantic_ plays that was ever written," Erin gushed as she played with the 9 carat diamond engagement ring on her left hand.

Mia spluttered into her hot chocolate. "_Romantic_? They both die in the end. You call _that_ romantic? It's a tragedy!"

"I still think it's romantic!"

"It's a tragedy!"

"Chill you two," Trish laughed as she sipped her mocha coffee. "It's _both_. Now if you want a happy romance one - you either go for _Twelfth Night _or _Much Ado About Nothing_."

Mia sighed happily. "I think Gary and I would make a perfect Claudio and Hero."

Trish snickered. "More like Beatrice and Benedick." 

Mia stuck her tongue out at the older girl. 

"It's true!" the dark-haired young woman protested.

"I agree," Jenn piped up while thumbing through a bridal magazine. She was due to be married to Danny, the Naval Island Gym Leader in two months.

"So do I," Erin giggled and Rachel just grinned.

Mia glared at her companions, "So, we argue a bit."

"A _bit_?" Erin raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so we argue a _lot_."

Karlie interrupted the conversation with a loud "Ahem!"

Her friends looked up. "You're back," Rachel said in a cheerful voice.

She sat down in her seat with a big smile.

"So," Erin said fixing her with a stare. "What did Tracey want with you?"

Karlie sighed dreamily, "He asked me to move in with him!"

There was a clatter of cups and cutlery as her friends just stared in shock.

"Admittedly, it's only for six months and it's only because he has to turn me into the world's greatest Pokémon Watcher by then. But still….." Karlie had stars in her eyes.

"Sounds like you're part of a bet he made with someone," Trish surmised.

"Well, I don't care," Karlie stated firmly. "At least I get to live under the same roof as him. It's going to be the perfect opportunity." She paused then smiled. "To twist the words of Julia Roberts in _Pretty Woman_, I am going to treat him so good that he is _never_ going to want to let me go."

****************

Tracey sighed inwardly. It had been a few hours since Karlie had moved in that morning. He had started her training right away showing her slides of Pokémon and testing her knowledge about them. It turned out that she knew quite a bit, but she still had a lot to learn.

The next slide came on. It was a Togepi.

"It's a SATANIC EGG THINGY!" she shrieked. "Get it!"

"No it isn't. It's a Togepi and it's a Pokémon."

"It's an Evil Pokémon."

"There's no such thing as an evil Pokémon."

"Yes there is. You're looking at it on the screen."

Tracey sighed. "Listen, Karlie. If you're going to become Pokémon Watcher you have to respect _all_ Pokémon."

"I _do_ respect Pokémon," she retorted. "I just don't respect psychopathic and demonic Eggs."

Oh boy. Tracey had the feeling it was going to be a _long_ six months…..

******************

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Three months later…..

Tracey pushed the button on the projector. "And what is this?"

"A Demonic Egg," was the prompt reply.

He glared at her and she sighed. "Okay, it's a Togepi - but it's still EVIL!"

Karlie wriggled on her seat. "Can I go now? I've got to get ready for this function tonight."

"Yeah, we're finished now." She flashed a smile at him before walking out of the room.

The Pokémon Watcher sank down heavily into an armchair. Things were going well, Karlie was a quick learner and had caught onto all the aspects of Pokémon research easily. The only thing that he had made no progress at all with - was her attitude towards Togepis. She still thought they were evil, three months later.

Other than that, Tracey had to admit the past three months had been not been so bad as he had first feared. Now that he knew her better, Karlie did not seem to be the crazed maniac he once thought she was. Rather she was funny, intelligent, talented, a good cook….and pretty. 

He shook his head. Now where did that thought come from? He had to admit that he enjoyed her presence in his house, it was nice to have someone there - made it less lonely. And he no longer had to feel like a third wheel at functions where all his friends were paired off. He went off to get ready.

****************

The party was held at Professor Oak's home and the many guests were spread throughout the house and onto the back lawn. Karlie was enjoying herself except for the fact that she had lost sight of Tracey a few minutes ago. So she stood with her friends Erin, Rachel, Mia, Trish, Chris, Jenn and their respective dates or spouses, around the punch table.

"Where did he go?" she groaned as she sipped at her third offering of punch.

"I think he went that way," Chris indicated with one hand, whilst keeping his arm firmly around the waist of his date Officer Jenny.

Karlie put the cup down on the table. "I'm going to find him," she announced before striding off purposefully from the group. She was not looking where she was going and so walked smack bang into another person. 

The girl looked up to see that the person she had walked into was none other than Rudy, the Trovita Island Gym Leader. He smiled and grasped her hand. "Such a vision of loveliness I never did see. Your name is?"

Karlie was extremely flattered. Tracey had never said anything like that to her…yet. "Karlie," she replied.

"May I have this dance?"

"Sure."

Her friends were stunned as they watched them dance. 

"She looks…like she's enjoying it," Mia said breaking the silence.

Trish looked at the glass she was holding, then at Karlie; then at the punch on the table. "Are you sure this didn't have any alcohol in it?"

Meanwhile Tracey had also noticed the couple from across the room. A pang of jealousy hit him. That should be _him_ there dancing with Karlie. But did he have any reason to be jealous? It might after all be just a dance between friends. And she did like him better over Rudy…didn't she?

*****************

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Three months later….

It was the end of the bet. Karlie had passed Gary's test with flying colours on everything except for one thing - Togepis. Her answer was still the same, that it was a demonic egg and nothing could persuade her otherwise. Gary had grudgingly conceded (under threat of physical punishment by Mia) that Tracey had won the wager.

Tracey should have been happy with that. He had finally got the better of Gary Oak. But he wasn't. The reason being that Karlie would be going home. And he would miss her.

The realisation had hit him when he had come home the other day, to find she had gone out with her friends. The house seemed so empty. He had grown accustomed to her face, to having her around.

He walked upstairs and paused in the doorway of her room where she was busy packing. "How you going?"

She looked up with a grin as she thumped down the lid of her suitcase. "Finished."

"So, I guess you'll be going home..or with Rudy," Tracey began.

"Rudy? Why would I be going with Rudy?" the girl asked puzzled. "We've just been discussing the establishment of another branch of the ITEO there."

The Pokémon Watcher's spirits rose at that piece of news. "Listen, you don't have to go if you don't want to."

Karlie stopped in her tracks.

Tracey took a deep breath. "I want you to stay."

Karlie squealed and threw her arms around him and Tracey had his answer.

She wasn't going to leave him. In fact she never would. She was his fair Karlie.

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The End.

Author's Note: It's late - but better late than never. Happy Belated Birthday Karlie, hope you like this. My first attempt at a major Pencilshippy….this was insane…. ^_^ Now I can work on the final chapter of "Midsummer Dreams" as promised. Flamers fed to my Tassie Devils as usual.


End file.
